Hsin Shin Ming: “5. The struggle of what one likes and what one dislikes is the disease of the mind.”

Hsin Shin Ming: “5. The struggle of what one likes and what one dislikes is the disease of the mind.”

The core meaning of this scripture is the disease of the mind. The disease of the mind is sometimes compared with an eye disease because it symbolises our inability to see things as they are. In other words, the struggle of like and dislike results from being unable to see things as they are.

The struggle of what one likes and what one dislikes means the struggle that comes when we can’t have or are deprived of what we like, or when we must be with someone or something that we dislike. This is all due to the disease of the mind that prevents us from seeing things as they are. When cured of the disease of mind, we can see things as they are. When we see things as they are, we come to realise that everything is empty. So, when we can see everything as it is, that is, as empty, the struggle of what we like and what we dislike will disappear by itself without any effort to remove it by force.

However, if we did not have likes and dislikes, how monotonous life would be! We should know that the cause of struggle is not what we like and what we dislike but our being unable to see them as they are. Once we can see them as they are, they are a blessing because they enrich our life and make it exciting.